DC Whistleblower Lawyer
Don’t let possible securities fraud weigh on your mind for another moment. Get in touch with a qualified whistleblower lawyer in Washington, DC, who can help you report your tip to the SEC and increase your chance of winning a financial award.
The burden of having information about fraudulent activity is often difficult to deal with. You are likely concerned that your employers will retaliate against you if they discover you blew the whistle, and you know that both your company and investor funds are being put in jeopardy by the scheme in question.
Here’s the good news: You can take control of the situation by working with a qualified DC whistleblower lawyer at Meissner Associates. We can help protect your identity so you can avoid the damaging effects of retaliation and potentially become an award-winning whistleblower.
Be Aware of These Investment Fraud Schemes
Even those who have worked in the industry for years as investors, brokers, and upper management will tell you the field is significantly more complicated than you might think. Being able to catch red flags regarding fraud and investment schemes is even more of a challenge. That’s why the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is willing to reward those who would blow the whistle in the DC area.
Some of the most common schemes are as follows:
- Embezzlement
- Manipulation and mispricing of stocks
- Ponzi and pyramid schemes
- Insider trading
- Money laundering
The schemes above are often even more complex than the world of securities. Talk to a lawyer about reporting your tip as soon as you can so another whistleblower doesn’t step forward before you and claim your reward.
Don’t Let Retaliation Intimidate You
One of the primary reasons whistleblowers in Washington, DC, refrain from reporting suspected securities violations is that they have reason to believe their employers will retaliate against them for going to the SEC with their information. Unfortunately, this fear is not unfounded.
Far too many employers think they are above the law and will retaliate against their employees—despite the fact that the Dodd-Frank Act and Sarbanes-Oxley Act contain provisions that are designed to protect whistleblowers from retaliatory behavior by their employers. If you are fired, demoted, harassed, or defamed, you might have a claim for whistleblower retaliation.
If the SEC discovers that your company fired you—and we will make sure this comes to light—you can expect the commission to file sanctions and impose fines against your employer. Then, you and your SEC whistleblower lawyer in DC can proceed with a wrongful termination suit, through which you may be able to recover the losses you suffered, including lost wages and damage to your reputation.
Claim Your Whistleblower Award
To win a financial award as a whistleblower, you’ll need to meet the SEC whistleblower program criteria first. These very specific guidelines start by requiring that your tip is made voluntarily. If the SEC has already begun investigating your company, you’ll need to act fast. If you are brought in for questioning before you’ve come forward, you will have lost your opportunity to win an award.
The information you report needs to be discovered through an original source, and you must be the first one to bring it forward. Then, the SEC needs to be able to take enforceable action against the fraudster in question, which means your tip should be crucial to the success of the SEC’s investigation.
Here is the most critical requirement, over which you unfortunately don’t have much control: The SEC must recover sanctions exceeding $1,000,000 to be able to issue you an award. If this happens, depending on how important your information was, you’ll be entitled to an award of 10 to 30 percent of the sanctions the commission was able to recover.
Although you may not be sure whether your tip will meet each of these requirements, by working with a competent whistleblower attorney in DC, you can be advised as to whether we expect that the information you have is worthy of an award.
Reach Out to a DC Whistleblower Attorney
If you have been made aware of information about a securities violation and are considering reporting your tip to the SEC, contact a qualified and experienced attorney as soon as you can if you hope to receive a reward for coming forward.
At Meissner Associates, we have the experience and knowledge you need to maximize your chances of walking away with a substantial whistleblower award. Give a DC whistleblower lawyer at our office a call at 1-866-764-3100 or simply fill out the secure contact form at the bottom of this page to schedule your free case evaluation.